Dental clamp



G. E. DAILEY.

DENTAL CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-14,1919.

358,800. Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

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UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

GROVER E. BAILEY, F RU'ILAND, VERMONT.

DENTAL CLAMP.

Application filed August 14., 1919.

To all w 700m it may concern Be it known that I, GRovER E'DAILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rutland, in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Clamps; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in'the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to surgical appliances, more particularly to dental clamps.

In filling certain types of teeth with plastic: fillings, flexible celluloid or other suitable bands or ribbons are used to hold the fillings in place in the cavities until the fillings have set. The present invention is upon a clamp used for this purpose, and one of the objects sought is to provide such a clamp so that it will effectively fit in place and produce the desired result without interfering with the dentist who is performing the work without annoying the patient.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a clamp of this class which will be extremely simple, strong, durable and inexpensive in construction, and well adapted to the i purpose for which it is designed.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and the combination and ar rangement of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the application, and in which similar reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dental clamp constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the clamp taken substantially on the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a substantially C-shaped flat spring 1, to the ends of which are soldered or otherwise securely fastened plates 2 having their side edges turned in wardly so as to form under-cut or dove-tail shaped channels upon the adjacent sides of the plate. The inturned edges or flanges Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 317,563.

3 of the plates 2 have a certain amount of resiliency so that the jaw faces 4 are clamped therebetween. The jaw faces 4: are preferably constructed of rubber composition and have their side edges'adjacent their backs notched as at 5 to form dove-tail shaped proj ections 6 to fit snugly in the channels formed. by the flanges 3 of the plates 2. The sides of the jaw faces 4 starting from points be yond the notches 5 are beveled so that the jaw faces are pointed in transverse section. They, however, have their sharpened edges curved, the curve of one aw face being convex as at 7 while the curve of the outer jaw face is concave as at 8. The jaw face having the convex curved center may be properly termed the inner jaw and is connected to the plate 2 carried by the short arm of the C- shaped spring 1. The jaw face having the concave pointed edge may be properly termed the outer jaw face and is connected to the long arm of the C-shaped spring. As clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings by having the jaw faces curved and arranged in this manner they will conform to the shape of the inner and outer surfaces of a tooth and effectively clamp a piece of the dental ribbon around the same.

In order to expand the two jaws of the clamp with respect to each other, handles 9 and 10 are soldered or otherwise firmly secured to the end curves of the C-shaped spring 1. The handles 9oand 10 extend rearwardly beyond the closed side of the spring 1. The outer ends of the handles 9 and 10 are shaped into finger cups 11. By engaging the cups 11 with the thumb and forefinger and pressing them together the handles will cause the spring 1 to bend so as to move the jaw faces away from each other.

By having the short arm of the C-shaped spring 1 connected to the inner jawface and the long arm connected to the outer jaw face, it will be seen that neither the spring nor the handles will project far into the mouth of the patient.

The device is to be used when filling a tooth withplastic filling Z1, and in doing so the filling is placed in the cavity and a celluloid or other suitable strip or ribbon 0 is placed around the tooth a to hold the filling b in place until it sets. The clamp is then applied so that the jaws engage the ribbon c on each side of the tooth and at a point between it and the adjacent tooth,

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

The spring 1 is strong enough to force the jaws tightly against the ribbon and prevent the same from coming loose until the filling has set.

The jaw face's may he slid longitudinally out from between the flanges 3 of the plates 2. This may be convenient should it be necessary to sharpen the pointed edge of the jaw faces.-

Various changes in form, proportion, and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims. a

hat is claimed is 1. A device of the class described comprising a C-shaped spring, jaw faces secured to the free ends of said spring, and handles secured to the end curves of said spring and extendingrearwardly beyond the closed side thereof for expanding the same and operating said jaw faces. 1

2. A device of the class described comprising a pair of jaw faces having their adjacent edges sharpened, the sharpened edge of one jaw face being curved on a convex line to fit the inner side of a tooth and convex line to fit the inner side of a tooth and the jaw face carried by the long arm of said spring curving on a concave line to fit the outer side of a tooth, and handles for expanding said spring secured to the outer sides of the same.

i. A device of the class described comprising a curved spring, plates secured to the free ends of said spring, inwardly extending flanges formed on the side edges of said plates to provide channels therebetween, and jaw faces having their backs shaped to fit said channels and sliding longitudinally into the same.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GROVER E. DAILEY. 

